Ungco, Suzuki resume chase for JPGT honors

ROMAN Ungco and Ryuji Suzuki seek to produce the same winning result in a different format and venue as Round 4 of the Junior PGT 2023 Series in the drive, chip and putt skills challenge setup gets going Sunday at the Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club in Laguna.

Meanwhile, parents of the competing junior golfers have lauded the staging of the JPGT while emboldening their co-parents and players alike to participate in the series staged to help discover and develop players from the ranks and expand the base of golfing talents in the country.

tournament. Commission and Cebu City Sports Commission.

Cebu Archery Club’s Aldener Igot Jr. gave fellow Cebuanos also something to cheer for in topping the men’s under-18 recurve qualifying round in a new mark in shooting 646 points, shattering the old mark of 631 by Lawrence Enecio in the same Marikina tourney last January.

Salt and Arrow Archery Academy’s Naina Tagle also joined record-break-

Altas sink Red Spikers to grab solo V-League lead

UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help

System DALTA unleashed a strong windup to dash whatever hopes San Beda U had nourished in a gutsy third-set stand, coming through with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-22 victory to wrest early control in men’s play of the VLeague Collegiate Challenge at the Paco Arena in Manila yesterday.

Games Sunday 10 a.m.

– FEU vs La Salle (men’s) 12 noon – Ateneo vs EAC (men’s)

2 p.m. – Mapua vs Lyceum (women’s)

4 p.m. – San Sebastian vs Enderun (women’s)

Hanging tough on a 16-15 lead in the third frame, the Altas racked up four straight points fueled by Jeff Marapoc and Kobe Tabuga’s back-to-back kills, effectively scuttling the Red Spikers’ bid on their way to scoring a follow-up to their tough 2927, 26-24, 25-19 victory over the Emilio Aguinaldo College side in last Wednesday’s inaugural of the tournament organized by Sports Vision. “I’m happy we got the win because we prepared for this. Happy ako na kahit wala kaming Louie

Ramirez, we’re playing as solid team,” said Perpetual Help head coach Sammy Acaylar.

Ramirez is in Japan for a threeweek camp with V.League club Oita Miyoshi.

Playmaker JC Enarciso led the Altas again with 12 excellent sets and finished with five points, including two aces. Marapoc wound up with 13 points, all from kills, while Tabuga added nine markers on seven spikes and two aces.

Kevin Montemayor scored nine points, all earned through kills, and Justine Santos and Mohammad Tahilluddin contributed six points apiece for San Beda, whose bid suffered a big blow after losing Axel Book to injury following an awkward landing in the second set.

Earlier, De La Salle University launched its campaign in the league, backed by Bola.TV, Be-

Rounding out the record-breakers was Olympus Archery Club’s Cassandra Alexei Garcia, whose score of 688 in the women’s under-18 compound qualifiers was superior to her old record of 645 also set at the world youth competition.

“We’re so happy to get involved in this tournament. It’s well-organized and managed,” said Arnold Sarines, father of boys’ 9-10 age-group campaigner Vito, Mona and girls’ 11-12 stalwarts Lisa and Mona. “The ratio of the players and the staff is very, very ideal to the point that everything is going well.”

“For all the players and parents out there, we encourage you to join the JPGT series. We’re hoping we’ll be able to grow the sport to the next generation of golfers,” he added.

For her part, Trina Bernardino, whose daughters Kelsey and Tiffany are competing in the 9-10 and 11-12 age categories, said they expect to vie in more JPGT tournaments, which she described as “fun and exceptionally organized.”

“We’re looking forward to joining more tournaments like this so that our children can gain more friends and learn in golf,” said Bernardino.

Ungco and Suzuki topped their respective age-group divisions in boys’ play in the 18-hole stroke play tournament at Valley Golf Club last month with the duo expecting a stiffer challenge from their band of rivals coming off a break in the 11-12 and 9-10 categories.